The Doctor's Nightmare
by cheri1
Summary: 10/Rose. Nightmare on Elm Street crossover. For decades now, Freddy Krueger has terrorized the residents of Springwood, Ohio while looking for a way to become human again and a Time Lord is just what he needs, not only to live but live for centuries. DONE
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This one is a crossover with the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, so it'll be pretty bloody and gory in spots, just to warn you of that.

Chapter One

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Sam Johnson looked around in complete confusion. The last thing he remembered was drinking a beer at his friend's house after they shared a joint and watched Army of Darkness. Now he was in the middle of what he swore was the courtyard of a medieval castle, a castle that resembled the one from the movie he just watched.

"Hello?" he said while he took a few steps forward. "Hey? Is anyone here?"

For a moment he wondered if he had somehow stumbled onto the Army of Darkness film set and hoped he might run into Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell so he could get their autographs.

"Sam, Bruce?" Sam said while he headed towards the massive gates of the courtyard walls.

Suddenly, the large wooden gates opened and Sam staggered back. His mouth dropped open when Sam Raimi's signature 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 rumbled into the courtyard.

"Bitchin'!" Sam said.

He squinted his eyes and tried to look through the windshield but it was tinted to the point he couldn't see anything.

"Sam?" he said as the car stopped fifteen feet in front of him. "Is that you?"

He gasped and held his hand up to his eyes when the headlights suddenly switched on, momentarily blinding him.

"Sam, Bruce?" he said, trying to see through the bright light.

He tried to walk around the bright light but to his astonishment, it seemed to follow him and no matter where he went, to the left or right, the light followed. As he tried to see past it, he noticed the driver's side car door opening and someone getting out.

"Sam, Bruce?" he called again.

He froze when the man walked in front of the headlights and they shut off. Sam stared at him. The man wasn't Sam Raimi or Bruce Campbell. He was some odd looking man with what looked like a severely burnt face. He was wearing a battered brown fedora, ugly red and green striped sweater and dirty brown trousers and hiking boots. He had his hands behind his back as he grinned at Sam. Sam grimaced when he saw the dirty yellow teeth in his mouth.

"Who are you?" Sam asked him.

"I'm Freddy," he said in a deep, gravely voice.

He whipped his right hand out from behind him and Sam saw a brown leather glove with long gleaming blades on each of his four fingers.

"And this here's my boomstick!" he said as he wiggled his fingers.

Fear gripped Sam's heart and he turned to run as Freddy laughed at him. He ran and ran and after thirty seconds realized he wasn't going anywhere. He looked down and noticed the ground under his feet had become a treadmill. He tried to run off it but the faster he went, the faster the treadmill went. Gasping and panting, he looked back and was horrified to see Freddy was standing at the end of it, his finger claws out and pointing straight at his back. He tried to run as fast as he could to get away from the man and his finger knives but the treadmill kept speeding up and Sam felt like his heart was close to bursting. Then suddenly the treadmill shifted direction and propelled him backwards. Sam gasped when he hit the finger knives and they went directly into the middle of his back. As he gasped for air, he felt Freddy grab him by his hair and jerk his head back so he could see his killer's face.

"Come on, gimme some sugar!" Freddie said.

Before he could do anything, Freddy slammed his mouth down on Sam's while he continued to gasp for air and Sam began to gag as Freddy's tongue snaked into his mouth and right down his windpipe. Sam's body spasmed as he tried to take air into his lungs but Freddy's tongue had completely filled his esophagus. Then Sam's eyes bulged when Freddy suddenly jerked his finger knives upward, further ripping his vital organs. Sam felt his world growing dark and the last thing he saw was Freddy's face as he took his tongue out and his mouth away from his.

"Hail to the king, baby!" Freddy said with a sneer as Sam's soul left his body and was absorbed into Freddy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So where we goin' today?" Rose Tyler asked the Tenth Doctor as they stood at the console.

"Anywhere your heart wants to go, Rose. Pick a spot, any spot; you know I'm always up for fun and adventure!"

"Um…not sure, really, how 'bout you pick?"

"Me? Where's the fun in that?" the Doctor said, making a face.

"Well, I don't know where to go; you're the one with all the knowledge. Pick something fun," Rose said.

"Tell ya what, give me three random numbers. I'll enter em and we'll see where we land up!" the Doctor said, happily. "That way it'll be a surprise for the both of us."

"Okay, one, one and one."

The Doctor gave her a withering look as she giggled.

"N'yuk, N'yuk," he said.

"What? You said three numbers, yeah? I pick one, one and one," Rose said.

The Doctor tried to give her a stern glance but it faded into a smile at the sight of Rose's tongue between her teeth. It had only been a month since he regenerated into his current body but already he and Rose had become thick as fleas, even closer than he had been when he had been in his ninth body. He had loved her in his ninth body, although he had tried as much as possible to keep that from being too obvious, apart from the hand holding and shared glances. But this body's libido seemed to be on overdrive and he found it hard not to look at Rose without fantasizing about falling into bed with her. He didn't know why but suddenly it seemed as though Rose Tyler had become the alpha and omega of his existence and even though he tried to keep it platonic, the handholding and looks had become more frequent and he suddenly felt torn between wanting to do more and wanting to keep her at arm's length the way he had done his other companions. But seeing her in her dungarees and lavender t-shirt with her newly cut shoulder length blonde hair and warm brown eyes that conveyed silent love and trust towards him, it made both his hearts dance around inside his body and he knew that if Rose asked him to sleep with him, he more than likely would say yes in a heartsbeat.

"Well, come on, you gonna enter my numbers?" Rose teased.

The Doctor grinned a smile that almost went up to his ears.

"Ah, what the hell, let's try it and throw caution to the four winds!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air.

Rose laughed at that and his hearts warmed inside his body. He didn't think he'd ever heard anything sweeter and the fact that she was happy made him happy too. He inputted three 1's into coordinates of his computer and flipped a few switches.

"Okay, Tyler, let's see where 1,1, 1 takes us to," he said while Rose hung on to the console rim.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two minutes later, the TARDIS landed and powered down. Rose glanced at the Doctor who was standing perfectly still.

"What is it?" she said.

"Just waiting for the walls to melt while he sink lower and lower into the dwarf star," he said in a hushed voice.

"And that's where you think we've landed?"

The wide eyed terror was instantly replaced by his jovial look.

"Nah! I'm sure we landed somewhere dwarf star free!" he said skipping around the console towards the front door.

He bounded up to the front door and stood there at the end of the ramp. He jerked his head and looked back at Rose who was still standing by the console, delighting in his antics.

"Come," he said, beckoning to her.

"Why?" Rose said, playing along.

"I want you here, in front of me."

Rose raised her eyebrow.

"Oh? And why is that?" she said.

"Because if I'm wrong and we are plunging into a dwarf star, I want the massive heat to hit and roast you first so I'll have extra seconds to say a prayer," he said.

Rose giggled and bounded down the ramp. She got in front of the Doctor and his hearts skipped a beat when she pressed up against his body. Was it his imagination or was Rose pressing up against him deliberately. His nostrils filled with the scent of her strawberry shampoo and he quickly put his hands behind his back and clasped them together to prevent his fantasies from becoming a reality.

"Well?" Rose said after a minute of standing there. "Gonna open the door and burn us to a crisp?"

The Doctor composed himself, brought his hands back around and pressed them against both of his doors.

"Ready for crispy death?" he said to Rose.

"Ready when you are."

"Then…here…goes…NOTHING!"

He shoved open the doors and both of them stood there and stared at a pleasant little town.

"Yeah, this is crispy death alright," Rose said dryly. "I'm just dying of the intense heat as we speak."

"Well, seems you hit the jackpot, Rose. You picked someplace that looks pleasant and monster free."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't bet on it," Rose muttered under her breath.

They both stepped outside and looked around. There were parked in the back yard of someone's white ranch style house. Looking around they noticed that the houses around them were one and two story, assorted colors; some were brick while others wood and a few had white siding on them. Each house had a large yard and they could hear the sound of children laughing drifting in with the pleasant summer breeze.

"Congrulations, Rose, 1,1,1 brings us to suburbia somewhere," the Doctor said, looking around. "Bravo!"

Rose frowned when she looked around the yard they were standing in. There was a small metal combination swing set and slide and a brick patio in front of the back door that had a slightly rusted black barbecue grill by it. At the back of the yard was an apple tree and an oak tree and underneath the oak tree was an old wooden picnic table.

"Um, shouldn't we move the TARDIS?" Rose said to the Doctor.

"Whatever for?" the Doctor said, confused.

"Um, because we're in someone's garden and someone might come out and see her," Rose said as if she was talking to a moron.

"Nah," the Doctor said, walking away. "She'll be fine. Perception filter on her. Most humans take no notice of her. Come on."

"Yeah? Well, they'll notice soon enough when someone comes out the door and runs right into her," Rose muttered as she followed him.

He stepped out into the street and put his hands in his pockets while he looked around.

"Wonder where we are?" he said.

He spun around and gave Rose a wide grin.

"Shall we knock on the nearest door and ask or shall we just continue to keep guessing until we find the answer in some random place?"

"Nah, I'd rather knock on a door and ask."

"Chicken," the Doctor said while she giggled. "No sense of mystery with you. Always gotta know where you are at any given moment. Takes all the fun out of things."

He ran over to the next yard and sprinted up three stone steps to a large stone porch. The house had white siding and black shutters beside each of the windows. Rose admired it for a moment, thinking how beautiful it looked before she hurried to join the Doctor on the porch. By the time she reached his side, the door was open and an elderly lady wearing a power blue duster and pink fuzzy slippers was staring at him with suspicion.

"Yes, can I help you?" she said, looking at him and then at Rose.

"Yes, sorry to trouble you. I take it from your accent that you're American?" the Doctor said.

The woman stared at him in shock.

"Yes," she said. "That's because you're in America."

"Jolly good. I'm sorry, my…car has a flat and my friend, Rose and I wandered into town to buy a new tire. We were just wondering, where are we?"

"Springwood."

"And…where is that?"

The lady's eyes boggled.

"Jesus, you really must be lost," she said.

"Yeah, we just sort of…gallivant around searching for laughs and merriment wherever we go," he said to her while Rose groaned softly. "So, where is Springwood located?"

"You're in Ohio and if I were you, I'd…gallivant away from here, permanently, and go back to England or wherever it is you came from."

"Oh? And why is that?" the Doctor asked.

He noticed the hesitation on the woman's face.

"Just…go, it's not safe here, trust me," she said to him after several seconds of silence.

Before he could say anything further, she slammed the door hard in his face.

"O…kay," the Doctor said, turning to Rose.

"So…we do what the woman says and get back in the TARDIS and leave so we can get away from the danger," Rose said to him.

She paused and saw the amused grin spreading over his face.

"Yeah, figured that wouldn't work on ya," she said to him.

"Nope, not when there's a mystery hereabouts, so come, my intrepid companion, time to find out just what makes Springwood, Ohio so dangerous," he said as she and him hurried down the porch steps.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Come along, Rose, work to be done and a mystery to be solved!" the Doctor said jovially as they walked along the pavement past dozens of nice houses.

Rose walked behind him, smiling while she observed the bounce in his step as he looked all around for any clues. In the month since his regeneration she had finally gotten used to this new version of her Doctor. She still missed the old him but she had to admit, not only was the new version cute but he was a lot less moody than her old Doctor. This Doctor was more manic, more fun loving and it seemed to her more patient than he had been before. With each passing day, it seemed like she fell in love with him more and more and she knew now that she had made the right decision when she decided to go with him after all. She was so grateful that he deemed her worthy enough to travel with him and she knew now that she would spend the rest of her life traveling in the TARDIS by his side.

"NO!"

Rose was jolted out of her reverie and nearly ran into the Doctor when they heard a woman screaming across the street. They stopped and watched while paramedics wheeled a gurney out of a two story brick house. Rose could tell whoever was on the gurney was dead since a sheet covered him from head to toe.

"Oh, the poor woman," Rose murmured as she watched a woman in her late thirties screaming about how her son had been murdered. The woman had auburn hair that was tied up in a loose bun behind her head. She was Caucasian with a slightly lined and thin face, hazel eyes and granny glasses with brown frames. She was smartly dressed and appeared to have just come from working at an office since she was wearing a black skirt jacket and white blouse with black court shoes.

"MY BABY! HE MURDERED HIM!" the woman screamed while the paramedics lifted the corpse into the ambulance. "FRED KRUEGER MURDERED MY SON!"

"Don't be stupid, lady!" one of the paramedics said to her. "Fred Krueger's dead. He's been dead for years."

"That hasn't stopped him! He's still murdering people and now he's killed my son!"

Rose felt a tap on her arm. She looked at the Doctor who jerked his head towards the woman before he walked across the street. Rose hurried to catch up with him.

"What are ya gonna do?" Rose asked, grabbing his arm and stopping him.

"Ask a few questions," the Doctor said. "I'm curious about this killer who seems to be dead and yet still killing."

"Just…don't be rude, yeah?"

The Doctor gave her a wide-eyed look.

"Rose Tyler, I am never rude!" he said to her.

"Then why did you say you were rude and not ginger when you first changed?"

"That? Oh that was…a turn of phrase, nothing more."

"Yeah, right, sure it was," Rose muttered as the Doctor resumed his hurried pace towards the woman who was nearly in hysterics as the paramedics drove off.

"My boy, my baby boy," she sobbed as she staggered back.

Rose sprinted past the Doctor, fearful that she was going to collapse. She grabbed her arms as the Doctor jogged up behind her.

"It's okay, I got ya," Rose said gently as she steadied the woman.

She smiled warmly when the woman stared at her in shock.

"My name's Rose Tyler, this is the Doctor," she said gesturing to him.

"Doctor?"

The woman let out a hard laugh.

"You're a bit late, aren't you? My son's already had his insides torn apart," she spat at him. "Not much you can do now!"

The Doctor cleared his throat, choosing to ignore the woman's anger.

"We're new in town. I'm not from around here which is why I've arrived too late to help your son. But I would like to help you catch this killer. Fred Kreuger, yeah? Do you know where he is now?"

The woman let out another barking laugh.

"Yeah, I know where he is and you can't get to him," she said.

"Oh? And why's that?"

The woman stared at him and said nothing.

"I only want to help," the Doctor said after several seconds of silence. "Rose and I want to help sort this out and bring your son's killer to justice."

Another sardonic laugh.

"You can't bring him to justice, no one can, that's the whole point!" she said to him.

"Why…because he's dead?" Rose said hesitantly.

"Exactly!"

The Doctor and Rose glanced at each other.

"Sorry, I don't quite follow you," the Doctor said. "How can Fred Kreuger have killed your son if he's dead?"

"Because he's a demon, that's how!"

Rose glanced at the Doctor and saw his interest in the situation increase a thousand fold.

"A demon?" the Doctor said. "And how do you know this?"

"Because Loraine is nuts."

The Doctor and Rose looked over and noticed a middle-aged, balding black man next door to the woman was coming out of his front door and onto his porch. The man pointed to Loraine as he walked down his porch steps.

"Everyone is convinced that Fred Kreuger is alive and well and murdering everyone in Springwood, Ohio," he said as he walked up. "But all they're doing is blaming murders and suicides on him because the man has become an urban legend here."

"He is not an urban legend, James, he exists!" Loraine yelled at him.

"Your boy was a pot head and an alcoholic. I'm pretty sure he was in there with that pot head friend of his gettin' drunk and high and his friend got stoned out of his mind and stabbed him to death and that's why he got scared and ran off when he first found him."

"No, James," Loraine said, walking up to him. "My son's friend didn't stab him. I walked in there and he was lying on the floor on his back in a pool of blood. He wasn't stabbed one time, he was stabbed four times and the marks resembled those finger knives of his!"

"I'm sorry, what? Finger knives?" the Doctor said, jumping into the conversation before Loraine decked James. "Could someone please tell us what's going on?"

James sighed and walked up to him and Rose.

"Long time ago, back in the '70's, a man named Fred Kreuger lived in Springwood. He'd lived here all his life, boy was messed up from the time he was small. Abusive father, beat the shit outta him every chance he got and warped that son of a bitch into a child killer. First he killed his wife, beat the shit outta her one day in front of his daughter but the jury deadlocked when he was brought to trial and he was never convicted for it. He got out and came back here and that's when the killings started. Children, young children from around the age of four to ten and eleven, started disappearing left and right and their bodies would be found in the woods, the dump, dumpsters, dead as a doornail. Usually their abdomens would be ripped open and there would be scratch marks all over their bodies. Some had evidence of molestation but never rape and most of them were tortured unmercifully before they were killed."

"Oh God," Rose murmured as the Doctor's eyes grew dark thinking of the innocent children that had suffered and died.

"Everyone tried to get the cops to arrest the son of a bitch but there was never enough evidence. Fred was far too clever to leave something on his victims that would incriminate him, learned that lesson after his wife died. So he continued to kill and finally the adults got fed up with the bastard so one night they cornered him in an old warehouse, lit a Molotov cocktail, threw it inside and burned him alive."

Both the Doctor and Rose stared at him in shock. James nodded.

"Yup, the parents of the children, both the victims and the ones who were still alive, took matters into their own hands when the police wouldn't get off their asses and do something. They all stood there and watched it burn to the ground with him inside it."

"Didn't the fire brigade come and put out the fire?" the Doctor asked.

James snorted.

"Yeah but the crowd held them back and fought with them until they were sure Krueger was a pile of ashes. Only when they were sure he was dead did they let them put out the flames."

"But that wasn't the end of it," Loraine said, coming forward. "Somehow he survived and became some kind of demon because he came back and began murdering again, in people's dreams."

"What?" the Doctor said in disbelief.

"That's the story," James said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't believe that?" Rose said.

James stared at her in disbelief.

"No, I don't believe that, I'm a sane, rational man!" he said to her. "What do you take me for, an idiot?"

"James, trust me, I've seen many things in my life that could be called fantastical, even impossible and I'm a sane, rational man," the Doctor said.

He paused for a second and then leaned into Rose's ear.

"Most of the time," he muttered into it before leaning back up.

"But," he said to James and Loraine, "let's pretend that this bloke, Krueger, is somehow still killing people in their dreams. How does he go about doing it?"

"He waits till you're asleep and murders you in your dream," Loraine said. "If you die in your dream, you die for real."

The Doctor and Rose shared a glance.

"I see," the Doctor said. "So your son fell asleep and he was murdered by Fred."

"So she says," James said. "Supposedly, Freddie started out murdering the children of the people who killed him in retaliation for what they did. But they all died long ago. Now the people who die are unconnected with the people who killed him. Like her son."

"You or your mother never participated in this lynching?" the Doctor asked Loraine.

"No, I didn't grow up here, my son and I moved here ten years ago. We left Cleveland to come here because I assumed it was a quiet little town. Boy, was I wrong. I heard all the rumors about Fred Krueger and the stories of the mysterious deaths but I didn't pay attention to them and now it's too late."

Rose put her arm around her when she started to weep.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a heartless bastard, honestly," James said to the Doctor. "Her son was a good boy for the most part. He just got caught up in the wrong crowd. I just don't believe that some nightmare killer was responsible for this and frankly, I'm tired of all the people who do believe that Fred Krueger stalks people in their dreams. It's insane."

"Maybe…maybe not," the Doctor muttered.

He smiled at James.

"Look, is there anywhere we can spend the night? It's getting a bit late," he asked him.

"Well, there are no hotels here but there is a little bed and breakfast two streets over. It's run by Janette, she's a nice woman and I'm sure she'll have a room for you and your friend tonight."

"Brilliant, what's the address?"

"Hold on, I'll go write it down for you."

He ran back to his house while the Doctor walked over to Loraine.

"Is there anything we can do?" he said, concerned.

Loraine gave him a grateful smile.

"No, I'll be alright," she said, sniffing. "I have a friend who will let me spend the night with her."

"Good, I think it best that you aren't alone tonight after what's happened," the Doctor said. "And I promise you, Rose and I will get to the bottom of this and try to stop Fred Krueger from killing again."

Loraine let out another sardonic laugh.

"Good luck, buddy, you're gonna need it," she said, shaking her head.

Rose stepped back and let Loraine go back into her house. The Doctor waited until James came back out with the address of the bed and breakfast. He took the tiny post-it-note and thanked him. He waited until James was back in his house before he leaned into Rose's ear.

"Notice something, Watson?" he said softly.

He watched her while Rose scanned their surroundings trying to figure out what he was referring to. Stumped, she finally shook her head.

"Oh, I'm surprised at you. It's elementary, my dear Tyler. All this time there was a woman standing out her ranting and raving that a demonic dead killer killed her son and yet no one except James came out of their homes to see what the fuss was about. And James only came out of his house to refute what Loraine was telling us. Seems to me that if someone is standing in the streets screaming that someone had murdered their son, there would be quite a crowd of onlookers, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Rose said, nodding.

"But not a sausage, not a dicky bird, nothing. Which tells me that this is indeed a common occurrence around here…or at least common enough that people don't come rushing over to see the dead body like most humans usually do."

"Do you believe it then…this whole story about Fred Krueger?" Rose asked him.

"Not sure, I've seen odder things in my lives so I'm not ruling it out yet. But perhaps…perhaps Janette knows something more about him or someone who participated in the lynching. Come on, Rose, let's go find this bed and breakfast and set up camp for the night."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The bed and breakfast turned out to be a two story Victorian house that was in an older section of town. Unlike the newer houses they had seen, the street the bed and breakfast was on was surrounded by other Victorian homes, most in need of some repair. Janette's house was the exception but the Doctor guessed that was because she was running a business and needed a nice house to attract tourists. The house was painted lavender with white trim. It had a large porch on the front with three wooden steps going down to path that led to the pavement. In the front of the house above the part of the roof that shaded the porch were two turret rooms that were on each side of the house. A small wooden sign hung down from the porch roof. The sign said Janette's Bed and Breakfast in black cursive letters with painted violets around it.

"Pretty," the Doctor commented as they walked up the steps to the porch.

He rang the doorbell and a moment later, a plump woman stepped outside. She was short with a full round face, a dimple in her chin, hazel eyes and rosy cheeks. Her long brown hair was braided and hung down to the middle of her back. She wore grey slacks with a white t-shirt and white trainers.

"May I help you?" she said.

"Yes, hi, we'd like to stay the night."

"You would? Well, come on inside. I'm Janette, obviously," she said. "And you are?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

Janette gave him an odd look.

"Okay…Doctor…follow me into the kitchen. I'm cooking some lunch if you and Rose are hungry."

"That'd be delightful, thanks," the Doctor replied.

"Good. If you go ahead and take a seat at the kitchen table, I'll go fetch my business things so you can pay me and get a room."

She led them down a short hallway and turned left at the end of it into a huge Victorian kitchen. She had them sit down at a large wooden table before she went through a door in the back of the room. Rose looked around while she and the Doctor sat side by side.

"This is a gorgeous house."

"Yes, it is. I wonder if any of Freddy's victims met their sticky end in here?" the Doctor said with wide eyes.

"Oh Lord, you mean you've already heard about that?"

They looked over when Janette came back into the kitchen with a pad of paper, pencil, calculator and leather bound receipt book.

"Do you know anything about it?" Rose said to her as she sat down across from them.

Janette snorted.

"Honey, everyone knows about Fred Krueger here. You'd have to be living under a rock not to know about him."

"Well, we heard the gist of the story from a woman whose son was killed today."

"Oh yeah, Loraine, she's a good friend. Her son wasn't always playing with a full deck, hung out with a lot of the drug addicts, but he didn't deserve to die like he did."

"Loraine said Fred Kreuger killed her son."

Janette rolled her eyes while she opened up her receipt book and turned on her calculator.

"I think you'll find most deaths are attributed to that bastard. Most people don't pay attention any more. Bunch of crackpots if you ask me. Now are you only staying one night?"

"For now," the Doctor said.

"For now? You're not sure?"

The Doctor smiled.

"I like to keep my options open," he said.

"Hey, stay as long as you like, I rarely get people who wanna stay here anyway."

"Because of Freddy?" Rose asked.

"No because we're smack dab in the middle of East Bumblefuck, Ohio, pardon my French," she said. "But it's true. We're about thirty miles from Columbus and that's where everyone ends up going if they wanna spend the night somewhere. I knew this whole bed and breakfast thing wouldn't make much money; I do it mainly to occupy my time after I was injured working in a factory and ended up on disability. Now for the both of you, it'll be a hundred dollars a night. That includes room and board and breakfast tomorrow morning."

Rose panicked since she didn't have any American money on her. She was shocked when the Doctor reached into his pocket and produced two fifty dollar bills. She leaned in close when he handed her the money.

"Okay, where'd ya get the money from if you weren't plannin' on comin' here?" she whispered.

He leaned into her ear.

"I decided it's always best to be prepared so I carry different sorts of currency and credits on me, just in case."

"Clever," Rose whispered back.

Her heart skipped a beat when he gave her a large toothy grin and wiggled his eyebrows. While they were doing that, Loraine wrote out a receipt and handed it to the Doctor.

"There you are, rooms are upstairs. You're welcome to use as many as you want for now since no one else is here. I have some beef stew cooking as you can see and I'll make some salad so would you like me to call when dinner's ready?"

They both nodded and thanked her. The Doctor and Rose both got up and Janette showed them to the stairs.

"Bathroom's upstairs, first door on the left, call me if you need any toilet paper," she said.

They thanked her again and Rose followed the Doctor up. On the second floor, they found the bathroom and noticed that there were two bedrooms on the right side and one bedroom on the left side next to the bathroom.

"I get em all!" the Doctor said triumphantly. "You can sleep in the corridor. Night!"

"Yeah, right!" Rose said as he chuckled.

They went to the first room on the right and peeked inside. The room was pleasant with rose wallpaper, a large wooden sleigh bed with a matching wooden nightstand beside it, two red velvet high-back chairs, two large windows across the room with rose colored curtains that were tied back on either side and a black iron floor lamp that was on the far side of the bed. Several pictures of country scenes decorated the walls.

"Homely," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, bed looks comfortable too," Rose said as they stepped inside.

They stood there for a moment looking at each other.

"So…I…s'pose you're gonna be sleeping next door," the Doctor said as calmly as he could.

For a moment, there was a flicker of disappointment on Rose's face and then she nodded.

"Yeah," she said.

She started to go but the Doctor grabbed her arm. For a second, Rose thought the Doctor was going to ask her to share his bed but reality came crashing down on her when he asked her to stay so he could conduct an experiment.

"What sort of experiment?" Rose asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

"If Freddy-boy kills people in their dreams, I think I'm going to have a little kip and see if I can find him."

Rose was in shock.

"Are you serious? You're gonna intentionally try to find this dream killer?"

"Well, yes, how else are we gonna find out if the whole story of Fred Kreuger is rubbish or not."

"Yeah, but…"

She trailed off.

"But, what, Rose?" the Doctor said when she didn't say anything more.

"It's dangerous," Rose said softly.

"Precisely why I want you in here with me. I want you to take one of those chairs, sit by the bed and watch me. If it looks like something's happening to me in the dream, wake me up quickly!"

Rose nodded, thankful that at least he wanted her to keep an eye on him. Her eyebrow rose when he started taking off his jacket.

"Now?" she said.

"Now's a good a time as any. I wanna see for myself if he exists before we have to go down to eat with Janette. Janette looks to be in her early '40's which means she was around when Freddy turned Dead-y and I want to know if she knows anything but first I want to deny or confirm her story that Tall, Dark and Burnt doesn't exist. So now…if you'll be so kind as to wait on me, I'll be back presently with my full dream report."

Rose nodded. She went to get a chair while the Doctor closed the door, threw his jacket and tie on the other chair and pulled back the rose colored duvet on the bed. To be honest, he'd been looking for an excuse to take a nap. Ever since his regeneration, he'd been struggling to heal completely from the sickness that had incapacitated him in the first few hours after it. He hadn't told Rose that he still felt a bit ill. He didn't want to alarm her and frankly he was ashamed that he had been unconscious while the woman he loved and his friends were nearly killed by the Sycorax. He knew Rose wouldn't care but he hated not being in charge and being weak since he was used to being the one to take command in any situation. Calling what he was about to do an experiment was a great way for him to get a quick bit of shuteye while he tried to find any evidence that a killer was haunting people's dreams.

He got under the duvet and pulled it up to his shoulders while Rose brought the chair up beside him and sat down.

"Remember," he told her. "Watch for any sign of discomfort or evidence that someone might be trying to kill me and then use any method at your disposal to wake me up."

Rose nodded. He stared at her and then grinned.

"Having said that, I would prefer you shake or slap me and not grab a fire hose or set the bed alight in order to make me scream myself awake, that wouldn't be cricket on your part."

She laughed.

"Blast and I was all ready to get the flamethrower and use it on ya," she said.

He smiled tenderly at her and allowed himself to drink in her beauty as she stared quietly at him. Suddenly finding himself with an urge to rise up and kiss her, he quickly closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he shifted his body into a comfortable position and tried to go to sleep. Rose watched patiently with a hint of worry on her face while she listened to his breathing even out and after twenty minutes, he was asleep and dreaming.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The Doctor's eyes snapped open when he suddenly came awake. He looked around and groaned when he noticed he was in his bedroom and the chair beside him was empty.

"Lovely," he muttered as he sat up in bed. "I give Rose one simple instruction, to watch over me while I sleep and she goes off and does something else. Yeah, I knew I could count on you, Rose."

The Doctor frowned when he looked out the window and noticed it was dark outside. It had been nearly noon when he first lay down. Had Rose decided after a bit to just let him sleep when nothing happened to him and went off to do something else? He felt his anger drain away when he figured Rose had been her usual caring self and let him rest in peace when she realized he was safe. Perhaps she even went to talk to Janette to find out if she knew anything about Fred Krueger. Thinking of that made him want to find Rose and see if she had found out anything more about him. He hopped up from the bed, quickly put on his tie and jacket, opened the bedroom door…and froze.

Instead of seeing the hallway outside his bedroom, the door opened onto the outside and he could see the street. Frowning, he stepped through onto a cracked pavement. The moment he was through the door, he heard it slam behind him and he turned to see that the door had completely disappeared leaving only rows of houses behind him. The houses seemed to be all identical. All two story with white siding, black shutters, a stone porch and a black roof. The Doctor glanced around.

"Something tells me I didn't wake up yet," he murmured to himself.

He froze when he heard a song drifting through the air. He concentrated on it and heard a small child's voice singing to him.

"One…two…Freddy's coming for you, three…four…better lock your door…five…six…grab your crucifix…seven…eight…better stay up late…nine…ten…never sleep again."

"Charming," the Doctor muttered to himself. "I'm in the land of doom being menaced by creepy nursery rhymes. Okay, Freddy, show yourself!" he yelled out. "I'm here so let's see if you're real."

He heard a loud squeak and jerked his head to his left. At the end of the street, he saw a young girl of three or four sitting on a large red tricycle. The girl was Caucasian with long blonde hair in curly ringlets. She was wearing a yellow dress, white socks and white saddle shoes. She stared at him quietly as he small hands gripped the handlebars. While the Doctor watched, the little girl peddled her tricycle in a semi-circle and with a series of tiny squeaks, turned and went back down the other street.

"Okay, I'll play your game, Freddy," the Doctor said, putting his hands in his pockets.

He walked down to the corner and looked to his right, trying to find the little girl. He raised his eyebrow when he didn't see her.

"Okay, time to play find the odd, creepy child," he muttered.

As he began walking, he glanced up at the street sign and noticed he was on Elm Street. He glanced at the houses to his right but there was no sign of the little girl. Every single house looked exactly the same and he snorted.

"Welcome to the suburbia from Hell," he muttered to himself.

He heard the squeak again, coming from his left and jerked his head towards the sound. He saw the little girl sitting on the porch of a house but unlike all the other houses he had seen, this one was dilapidated with all the windows boarded up. The other doors he had seen had been white but this house had a bright red door. The little girl sat on her tricycle in front of the door staring at him quietly. While he watched, she began to peddle and the door mysteriously opened by itself. With a series of small squeaks, the little girl peddled through the door and it closed behind her.

"Let me guess, I'm supposed to go in there after her," the Doctor said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes when he heard the nursery rhyme wafting in on the night breeze towards him.

"Right, time to get to the bottom of this," he muttered as he climbed the steps towards the porch.

The Doctor leapt up onto the porch and strode confidently towards the front door. He was about to put his hand on the doorknob when it suddenly opened by itself. The Doctor let out an angry sigh when he heard a deep, sinister voice laughing faintly from within.

"Yeah, I'm not scared, just so you know," he yelled out before going inside.

The moment he stepped inside, the door slammed behind him.

"Gee, how did I know that was gonna happen?" he said dryly.

The inside was just as dilapidated as the outside. There were holes in the wall and the carpeting on the stairs beside him was worn and filled with holes. There was dust everywhere and with each step, he kicked up more and more until dust particles were floating on the air in front of him.

"Knowing my luck, I'd get eaten by the Vashta Nerada before Freddy got me," he muttered to himself as he walked through the dust filled room.

He slowly made his way through the house. Each room was just as run down as the others. The furniture that he saw was just as broken and worn as everything else.

"I s'pose when you're dead and killing people in their dreams, you don't have much time for upkeep," the Doctor muttered to himself as he looked around.

As he passed by a door to his right, he heard the squeak coming from inside it. He stopped and looked at it. The door was painted white but the paint was cracked and falling off the door, revealing the wood underneath. The Doctor rolled his eyes when he heard the squeak again. Then he heard a loud click and the door unlocked and opened on its own. The Doctor stepped back slightly and noticed firelight on the wall just beyond the doorway. He heard the soft clinking of chains and anguished screaming. Determination flooded his being as he stepped onto a grate that resembled the ones in his console room. A series of metal stairs led down from the grate to the concrete floor of the basement. He could hear the sound of a furnace and more clanking and screams. Keeping his wits about him, he slowly descended into the basement. The smell of burning flesh assaulted his nostrils and the clanking of chains became louder. Off in the distance he heard the sinister laughter he heard earlier followed by a screeching sound that was reminiscent of a nail going across a chalkboard.

"Freddy? Are you here? Show yourself!" he yelled when he stepped onto the concrete floor of the basement.

He heard the sinister laughter again and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're really scary, now come out and show yourself! I wanna meet you face to face!" the Doctor yelled.

There was a moment of silence during which the Doctor only heard the clanking of chains and the distant screams. In front of him several chains hung down from the wall and swung back and forth under their own power. The Doctor's keen eyes scanned the room trying to find Freddy in the dimly lit basement.

"You're different from the others," he finally heard Freddy say, his voice coming from everywhere around him.

The Doctor snorted.

"Why is that? Because I'm not some frightened child for you to torture and molest and kill?" he yelled as he continued to search for him.

"No, you're not…human."

"Bravo, spot on, I'm not. Now step out here and show yourself!"

He heard the screeching sound again and suddenly felt uncomfortable, the same sort of uncomfortable sensation he felt when he realized that Rose had made Jack immortal. The feeling that he was dealing with an aberration, something that should not exist, and he had to plant his feet and will himself not to run to get away from it. At the same time, he felt Freddy starting to search through his mind and he quickly put up mental blocks to prevent him from digging deep into his subconscious. But although he had managed to block Freddy's intrusion, he knew that he had gotten a look at his surface memories because he heard him let out a chuckle.

"Time Lord," Freddy's voice echoed around him. "From outer space. Knew there was somethin' different about ya. I can sense the minds of all the residents of Springwood once they go to sleep and the moment I sensed your mind, I knew you were somethin' special. You may be just what I've been lookin' for."

The Doctor snorted at that. He put up more blocks when he felt Freddy trying to probe deeper into his mind.

"Oooo, you have a girlfriend," he said gleefully.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed when he suddenly heard Rose screaming his name somewhere in the distance.

"You better hope that's not her or I'll be the one tossing you in the fire," he snarled.

He sighed when he heard the screeching again and then Freddy finally stepped into view. He held up his finger knives and wiggled his fingers while he sneered at him. Then he ran the knives along a nearby pipe, making the screeching sound.

"That s'posed to scare me?" the Doctor said, calmly.

Freddy stepped further into the firelight. The Doctor cocked his eyebrow when he saw his burnt face.

"You know, if I were you, I'd put some lotion on that or it's gonna get infected," he said, pointing to his face.

Freddy stopped about fifteen feet from the Doctor and stared at him quietly. The Doctor put his hands into his pockets and calmly held his gaze. Freddy gave him a toothy grin and chuckled.

"Yes, so much power I can sense in you!" he said in a gravelly voice.

"Who are you then? Yoda?" the Doctor replied.

"I must have you!"

"Funny, Cleopatra said much the same thing. I told her she wouldn't want me, I was a pain in the asp."

Freddy studied him while the Doctor looked around the room.

"So, this is your home sweet home, is it? Bit dusty and manky but warm," he said, pointing to the fiery furnace beside Freddy. "This where you brought all those little kids of yours to be tortured and killed?"

Freddy neared closer and the Doctor fought to keep from running when once again he sensed how unnatural the man was.

"So…Freddy…how is it that a mere human turned into a dream stalking demon?" he said to him. "Come on, you can tell me, demon to alien."

Freddy chuckled.

"My friends helped me."

"Friends? What friends?"

Suddenly he saw three wraith like beings who flew around Freddy a few times before they stopped and hovered near him. All of them were ghostly white with with skull-like faces and a long tail behind them that made them look like sperm.

"What are those?" the Doctor said, pointing to them.

"They're dream demons. They came to me just before I was going to be burned alive and entered me, making me immortal!"

The Doctor watched as the demons flew up and reentered his body. Once again, that sensation to run pricked at his brain. It intensified when Freddy took another step and the Doctor felt himself unconsciously take a step back to get away from him. The movement was not lost on Freddy and his smile became wider.

"What's the matter? Scared?" he taunted him.

"I'm not scared of you, I'm uneasy at what you've become!"

"Oh? And what am I?"

"An anomaly. An aberration, something that should never have existed. You should have died that night, Fred Krueger."

"And yet…I live!" Freddy said triumphantly. "And now, I'll make you join with me and not only will I be reborn into the real world again, I will have your power and your lives to sustain me for centuries."

"Um…I wouldn't choose me if I were you, I don't have many lives left. You might wanna try a newborn Gallifreyan. Except I'm the last of my kind, so bad luck, I'm afraid. You are stuck here forever."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, Doctor. You see, I have ways to make you cooperate with me."

The Doctor's eyes darted off to the left when he heard Rose calling his name in the distance.

"You love her, don't ya? I saw that in your mind."

"I'm warning you, you stay away from her!" the Doctor snarled.

"Oh, lookie here, the Doctor's finally lost his cool," Freddy taunted. "What's wrong, protective of your little girlfriend?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed and his fists balled up when Rose's cries became louder.

"I'm warning you, going after her would be a big mistake on your part," the Doctor growled.

"I just love finding my victim's weaknesses and exploiting them," Freddy said while he played with a chain near his head. "You see, everybody has at least one weakness, one thing I can use to pull them into my world so I can toy with them like a cat with a mouse and then once I have them cornered..."

He spread his fingers and the blades caught the firelight and gleamed.

"I won't let you harm anyone else, Fred Krueger, you hear me?"

"How are ya gonna stop me…DOCTOR?"

Freddy let out another chuckle and then without warning he suddenly took two quick steps. The Doctor, against his will, took two steps back and Freddy laughed at that.

"You 'fraid of little ol' me, Doctor?" he said to him. "I thought you wanted to stop me and here you are, running just like all the others. Maybe your sweetie will be braver than you."

The Doctor gritted his teeth at that.

"Yeah, I can see her in your mind. She's pretty," Freddy drawled. " I wouldn't mind having that pretty face to add to my collection."

The Doctor watched in horror as Freddy ripped open the front of his sweater and he saw several anguished faces on his chest and stomach. The urge to run kicked into overdrive and it took sheer force of will to stay and face Freddy. Freddy grinned and ran his ungloved hand across the faces like a mother stroking a baby's head.

"My children," he said to the Doctor. "The souls of those I've killed. They're inside me, giving me strength. I feed off them and soon I will add your soul to them, Doctor, and take your body for my own."

The Doctor was filled with even more resolve and Freddy chuckled at the determined look on his face.

"As much as I'd love to take you right here and now, I think I'll wait awhile and find easier prey," he said to him. "But if I were you, I wouldn't interfere, wouldn't want your beloved to end up here would ya?"

He tapped his index finger knife against his chest. The Doctor, enraged by the threat against Rose and the sight of the anguished souls, let out an angry roar and tried to lunge at him. Freddy disappeared before his eyes and the last thing the Doctor heard before waking up was his mocking laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The Doctor gasped and his eyes snapped open.

"Doctor?" Rose said, getting up from the chair and leaning over him. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I found him, Rose. Fred Krueger does exist."

"So what do we do?" Rose said.

The Doctor stared at her, feeling helpless. Rose noticed the look in his eyes and laid a hand on his arm.

"What is it?" she said.

"I think he's going to strike again, find someone to kill as a challenge for me to save them. But…he saw into my mind, Rose. He knows about you and now you're a target because he wants me. But…I can't protect you in your dreams."

Rose swallowed hard, thinking of the implications of that as she sank down into the chair. The Doctor's hearts ached, seeing the fear on her face.

"I don't need to sleep that much, Rose. I can go weeks without sleeping but you can't," he said to her. "And the moment you do fall asleep, you're vulnerable."

"So what should I do? Drink lashings of coffee so I can stay awake till he's defeated?"

The Doctor thought about that.

"The TARDIS does have some shielding in place to prevent psychic attacks from outsiders. I don't know if it'll stop Freddy though, I rarely dream when I sleep so I've never had to worry about it. But for the moment, the TARDIS is probably the safest place for you."

Rose nodded.

"What about you? Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, I don't need to sleep that often," he said, ignoring the tiredness he still felt from being ill.

"But…when you do sleep, you will go inside the TARDIS?" she said.

"Well, hopefully we won't be here that long but if I have to, then yes, I will go inside the TARDIS to sleep."

He smiled when he saw the relief on her face and patted her leg.

"Come on, Watson, we need to figure out where Freddy's likely to strike next," he said to her as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Randy Felcher groaned as he slowly walked to his bed. He had just gotten back from the hospital in Columbus and had been diagnosed with a kidney stone. The doctor told him that more than likely it would pass out through his urine but it would take some time. He had prescribed some Advil for him for the pain and told him to get plenty of bed rest in the meantime. While he was taking off his belt, his wife Andrea walked into their bedroom and shook her head.

"I told ya not to drink coffee like it's goin' out of style. This is what comes of it," she said to him while he got undressed.

"Andy, I'm not in the mood to hear about me and my coffee habits," he said angrily. "I just took some pain pills and now all I wanna do is sleep. The ride back from Columbus was excruciating so get off my back!"

"Fine, fine, I just hope you don't go right back to five cups of coffee a day after this," Andrea said, walking out of the room.

Randy glared at her and muttered something about her excessive coffee habits while he put on his blue striped pajamas and climbed into bed. He pulled the dark blue duvet up around his chin, got comfortable and closed his eyes. It took about twenty minutes for the pills to lessen the pain enough for him to go to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mister Felcher?"

Randy's eyelids snapped open and he noticed he was lying on the examination bed in the Doctor's office. Cara, the pretty blonde, medical assistant was standing over him, shaking him awake.

"Where am I?"

"You're in Doctor Stevenson's office. You musta fell asleep while waiting for him. I'm here to get your vital signs."

"I thought I was just here," Randy said, confused. "I thought he told me I have kidney stones."

Cara shrugged.

"Damn, I thought I was home already," Randy said, scooting further back on the bed.

"Just relax and let me take your blood pressure," Cara said as she walked over to a drawer under the counter on the other side of the room.

Randy raised his eyebrow when he saw Cara's ass wiggle as she walked over. She was wearing tight black slacks and a white lab coat with a pink top underneath it. She rummaged around in the drawer and found the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. She turned and Randy admired her chest and noticed the woman had very large breasts. He fought to keep calm so he wouldn't get an erection while she walked back over to him. He watched while she wrapped the cuff around his right arm and found his pulse up near his elbow. She put the stethoscope there and smiled sweetly at him while she began to pump it up. Randy lay quietly, wincing when the cuff began to tighten around his arm. Then he gritted his teeth when she continued to pump and the cuff became unbearable.

"Christ, lady, I think that's enough…"

Randy was cut off in the middle of his sentence when he looked up at Cara. Only it wasn't Cara, it was a horribly burnt man wearing Cara's clothes.

"I'm sorry, is this hurting you?" Freddy said with mock sympathy. "Perhaps I can take away the pain…permanently."

Randy gasped when leather straps appeared from nowhere and magically flung themselves over his body. He groaned when they tightened and pinned him down to the bed. He watched in terror as Freddy tore the cuff off and threw it away before he walked around to the front of the bed and put the stirrups up.

"What are you doing?" Randy said as his heart raced.

"Giving you an examination," Freddy said as he put his feet in the stirrups. "Every man should have his prostate checked."

Randy's eyes bulged out of his head when Freddie lifted up his hand and he saw the gleaming fingers knives. Freddy lowered all of them to his palm except his index finger knife.

"I'll have to give you a rectal examination to be sure your prostate is in good working order," he said to him.

"No, no, please don't!" Randy begged.

He watched in silent terror as Freddy carefully slit down both sides of his trousers and took them off. Then he did the same to his underwear.

"No, please, just leave me alone!" Randy said.

"We must examine you," Freddy said with sickening sweetness.

He sneered as he watched Randy struggle against the restraints while his finger knives hovered close to his anus. Then suddenly he thrust the knife in about three inches and Randy screamed.

"Oh, are you tender down there?" Freddy said as Randy screamed. "I'm sorry, my bedside manner is atrocious."

He jerked the knife back out and laid the gloved hand directly over his kidney while blood dripped from his anus.

"I think you might have a kidney stone and I'm guessing we may have to operate in order to get it out."

"No, no, please. Please I'm begging you…"

Randy screamed when Freddy began to cut him open with his index finger knife. Once he made a slit big enough, he rammed his ungloved hand inside and yanked his kidney out. While Randy howled in pain, Freddy examined the organ intently.

"Hmm, doesn't look too bad, I think someone's gonna be one lucky recipient of this donor kidney, don't you?"

Randy gasped when Freddy seized him by the throat with his ungloved hand.

"Course hearts are much more valuable and rarer than kidneys. Some poor soul is waiting for one right now."

Randy was speechless with terror as Freddy leaned in close to him.

"I'm not the doctor but I'm gonna leave a message for a Doctor," he said to the dying man. "You see, you were a test for him to see if he could get here fast enough to save you. Well, he failed and now you're gonna be my calling card to him. Bye bye!"

Randy screamed as Freddy plunged his finger knives into his chest. The last thing he saw before dying was Freddy laughing as he held up his beating heart in triumph.

"Come to me!" he said as Randy's soul left his body and was instantly sucked into Freddy's chest.

He chuckled as he threw the heart on the floor and began to carve a message to the Doctor directly underneath the gaping hole.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Janette looked up and smiled when the Doctor and Rose came into the kitchen.

"Wow, you have a great sense of timing, just in time to eat," she said as she stood at the counter. "I was just about to call you to come down and get your food. If you want, you can eat here or in the living room. I can set up TV trays in there if you wanna watch TV, just don't make a mess, okay?"

"We'll be absolutely spit spot in the living room," the Doctor said. "But are you eating as well because I'd like to talk to you."

"Why sure, let me serve ya first. Just go ahead and go find ya a seat and I'll go get the TV trays."

They nodded and followed her into the living room. The living room was large with the white ceiling about twenty feet up above them. In the center of it was a large ceiling fan that was on low speed. There were several large windows with lavender curtains that were drawn back and the walls were wood paneling. There was a floral sofa in front of the window on the left side, a purple recliner next to it and a wooden coffee table in front of the sofa. By the door was another purple recliner and on the right side of the wall was a large big screen TV. Above the TV was a framed portrait of Loraine, a middle aged man and a girl who was in her teens. At the back of the room were two large windows with a secretary desk and chair in between them and two more framed pictures. One of an angel and the other of a country scene. The Doctor and Rose chose the sofa and Janette moved the coffee table away so she could bring in the TV trays. She left and a moment later returned with them. She opened them up and set them in front of her guests before doing the same for her in front of the purple recliner by the door. The Doctor stared down at the top of the trays and saw two children romping with a puppy. He smiled at the image as Janette went to get their food. It was slow going since she had to bring in a bowl of stew and a bowl of salad for each of them before bringing in glasses of milk and their cutlery. The Doctor and Rose both offered to help when they saw what she was doing but she shook her head.

"You're guests here, relax," she said to them. "I need the exercise anyway."

Once she was finished, she settled into her recliner with a sigh. The Doctor and Rose ate and watched her while she said a silent prayer before she began eating her food.

"So, you're from England?" Janette asked as they ate.

"Yes, we are," Rose said.

"You'll have to forgive me for asking but I've never been myself, what part are you from?"

"London," Rose replied.

Janette rolled her eyes.

"Shoulda guessed and I was gonna ask that but then I figured if I did say that, it would be wrong and I'd look like an idiot."

"Nah, s'alright," Rose said while the Doctor chuckled. "I couldn't tell where most Americans were from by their accents so you're not alone."

"So…how long have you been dating…or are you married?"

The Doctor paused in mid chew and swallowed.

"Sorry?" he said.

"Well, you're together, aren't you?" Janette said.

Rose giggled when the Doctor blushed at that.

"Nah, we're just good friends," Rose replied.

"Seriously? I mean, I believe you, it's just that…you look like a couple."

Both Rose and the Doctor glanced at each other.

"We do?" the Doctor said hesitantly.

"Well, yeah, I mean I can tell when two people are in love and to be honest, you're practically sitting on top of each other. Ya only got a few inches between your hips and it's not that small a sofa."

Rose laughed when the Doctor made a big show of scooting down and then picking up his tray and placing it in front of him before he smiled at Janette.

"Lord, I just got done saying I was afraid to make a mistake when it came to your accents and then I go and assume you two are dating. Ah well, live and learn, I guess."

"So how long have you been running this bed and breakfast?" Rose said in order to change the subject.

"Bout four years. I…haven't been entirely truthful with you."

"Oh?" the Doctor said, putting his fork down.

Janette got a wistful look as she gestured to the portrait over the TV.

"That was my husband and daughter; they were killed in a car wreck about five years ago."

"Oh God," Rose said while the Doctor stared at her sadly.

"Yeah, that's how I got on disability. We were coming home from a Christmas party a few days before Christmas and my husband and I both had a little too much to drink and it was snowing out and he lost control and ran us into a tree. I always made a habit of wearing my seatbelt and I was in the back because I felt ill from the wine and the greasy food I ate but neither my husband nor my daughter would wear seatbelts and both of them were thrown through the windshield when the car hit the tree. My therapist suggested doing this as a way to keep myself busy and meet new people, never mind that new people are a rarity in this town. But I usually tell people I got injured working at a factory because it's too painful to talk about. But you two, there's something about you that makes me want to open up to you both."

"I'm sorry to hear about your family," the Doctor said as Rose nodded.

She smiled.

"Thank you. I miss them terribly but I'd rather they were in Heaven than spending the rest of their lives being vegetables on life support," she said. "And it has helped, this place. At least I do get to meet folks like you from time to time."

"Well, I'm glad we came here then," the Doctor said.

Janette nodded and quickly changed the subject.

"So…were you able to get some rest in your rooms? Are they comfortable enough?" she asked.

"Yes, they're lovely," Rose said.

"I agree. And I was able to take a nap," the Doctor added.

"Good, I'm glad you approve of them," Janette said.

"But I wanted to talk to you about Fred Krueger."

Janette paused with a forkful of salad halfway up to her mouth.

"Now…I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"It's just the Doctor," Rose said.

Janette gave him an odd look.

"Your parents named you Doctor?"

"Um…yeah, yeah they did," the Doctor said while Rose giggled.

"Poor guy. You should think about getting it legally changed, you are old enough, you know," Janette said.

"I'll keep it in mind," the Doctor said with a wink.

"I would if I were you. But anyway, Doctor, I don't know what you've heard about Fred Krueger but I can assure you that he's dead."

"Then how come I just saw him in my dream?" the Doctor said.

"Well, have you been listening to stories about him since you got here?" Janette said.

"Yes."

"Well, you went to sleep and dreamed about him based on everything you heard," she said.

"No, I rarely dream and I know the difference between a dream and between real life," the Doctor said. "What I just saw was definitely not a dream."

Janette gave him an odd look.

"You have the ability to tell when you're dreaming even though most people can't," she said.

"Yes, I'm very talented and not only is Fred Krueger alive, he's also killing people, he threatened to kill someone to see if I could stop him before he did it."

"Doctor, there is no way anyone could do that," Janette said as patiently as she could. "You can't kill someone in their dreams, it's just impossible."

"I realize that but somehow Freddy, with the help of these…dream demons, is able to do it. He apparently killed Loraine's son earlier today."

"You don't know that. You weren't there, were you?"

"Well, no," the Doctor admitted.

"Well, I hate to tell you this, Doctor, but Fred Krueger gets blamed for a lot of things that happen in this town. Everything from murder to suicides to drug overdoses, you name it, Fred did it. They even have this made up serial killer called the Springwood Slasher who supposedly is terrorizing the town. I admit this town has a high number of deaths but there's another explanation besides some ghostly serial killer."

The Doctor decided to change the subject, realizing that it wouldn't do any good to try to change Janette's mind. He knew in his hearts that what he saw was more than just a mere dream and he was determined to find a way to stop Freddy before he murdered again. Both he and Rose made polite conversation for awhile before Janette turned on the noontime news. The Doctor watched it while he ate a second bowl of stew. He didn't see any news reports about Springwood. Most of the news concerned Dayton or Columbus. But then near the end of the newscast, he heard something that made him sit up and take notice.

"We've just received a breaking news report that a man has been murdered in his house in Springwood, Ohio. The man has been identified as 33 year old Randy Felcher. He was found in his bed by his wife. Police sources say he had been stabbed in the rectum and his chest and side had been opened and his kidney and heart removed. They also say that a message crudely carved into the chest and abdomen of the victim. According to the police, the message reads, better luck next time, Doctor."

Rose looked at the Doctor who was now completely pale.

"Doctor," Rose said gently.

She and Janette watched as the Doctor quickly got up and hurried from the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Doctor slammed his bedroom door hard and sat down hard on the bed. Anger and sorrow filled his mind while he lowered his head to his hands and silently vowed revenge on Freddy Krueger for killing an innocent human.

"Right, you want me, come get me!" he said as he hurriedly untied his shoes and lay down on the bed.

He lay there staring up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to calm himself down. He didn't hear Rose outside the door and figured she knew how angry he was and was staying away for awhile. He figured she was probably also explaining to Janette that the message had been meant for him. A long sigh escaped through his nose while he shut his eyes and relaxed his body.

He lay there for twenty minutes, his eyes closed as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Then he heard a knock on his door and his eyes snapped open.

"Doctor?"

He groaned when he heard Rose outside his door.

"I'm a little busy, Rose," he said annoyed.

The door opened and Rose came inside.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…oh God; you're not trying to go to sleep again, are you?"

"Yes, Rose, I am. I'm gonna stop Freddy from killing people even if I land up dead myself."

Rose sat down on the chair beside the bed and put her hand on his arm.

"But I'm worried about ya. You were gonna go find him…without me here to watch you and wake you up? What if something happened?"

Guilt plagued the Doctor's mind. He'd been so gung ho about going to sleep that he forgot to ask Rose to come and make sure he could get out of the dream again if he needed to.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I wasn't thinking of that. I was just trying to get to Freddy before he did something to someone else," he said softly. "Will you stay and keep watch over me while I do this?"

"Of course I will."

"Thanks."

He began to relax again when Rose suddenly put her hand on his arm.

"Doctor, wait, I need to ask you something."

"Yeah?" he said.

Rose hesitated a moment and put a bit of hair behind her left ear.

"What Janette said, about her noticing we were in love. Is that true? Do you love me, Doctor?"

"Rose, this is neither the time nor place…"

"Because I love you, Doctor, and I always have."

The Doctor was stunned into silence. His hearts began to race when Rose's face came nearer to his.

"Oh Doctor, I always imagined you loved me but I kept thinking that all the handholding and looks you gave were just my imagination."

"Rose, please, we can't do this," the Doctor said, his hearts nearly thudding out of his chest when Rose placed her hand on his hearts.

"Why not?" she said.

"Because…because we can't."

He fought to keep himself under control when Rose's other hand began to stroke his hair.

"I came back for you, you know. I left Mickey behind when you came back because deep down I knew you were the one for me," she said in a hushed voice.

"Rose, please…don't…"

His body tingled when Rose's lips gently pressed against the middle of his forehead. He swallowed hard as his libido started to go into overdrive. He stared up at Rose while she hovered over him and stroked his cheek, his eyes simultaneously pleading with her to stop and go on. He sighed when Rose kissed his forehead a second time before he heard a whispered "I love you" As her hand continued to caress his cheek, the Doctor felt his willpower draining away with his anger and a peaceful feeling settled over his whole body. He moaned softly in his throat as Rose started kissing his cheeks and went on to kiss different points on his face except for his lips.

"Oh, Rose," the Doctor said as a need for her burned inside him.

"My love, my only love," Rose whispered as she reached up under his shirt and began to caress his abdomen and chest.

"Rose…no, we can't do this. It's not right," the Doctor protested weakly through half closed eyelids.

"Shhh, my love, we can…it's alright," Rose murmured before kissing his forehead. "I know now that you and I were meant to be. That's why you came back for me after you left, you know that too."

"Rose, I…"

He was cut off and lost his train of thought when Rose's lips pressed against his. All rational thought left him as he concentrated on kissing her back. His mouth opened and he moaned when Rose eagerly explored it with her tongue. She broke off momentarily and kissed his forehead again.

"Oh my Doctor, let me be yours," she whispered to him. "Let me be your lover. I can be yours, Doctor. I can be your entire universe if you'll only let me."

"Yes," the Doctor moaned, his eyes closed. "Rose, my Rose, be mine. Stay with me, never leave me!"

Rose smiled and planted soft kisses on his forehead, nose and cheeks while the Doctor breathed heavily.

"I will, my love, I will be with you forever, I will never leave."

"Rose…" he murmured as her hand caressed his scalp.

She continued to caress and kiss him while the Doctor stared at her adoringly through half closed eyelids. He felt himself getting hard and this time he didn't care if she saw it or not. All he wanted was to be with her for the rest of her life.

"Rose?"

His eyes darted towards the door when he heard Janette calling up from below. Rose looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come and help me with the dishes? I'd love to talk with you some more."

"Be right there!" Rose yelled.

"Ah, blast," the Doctor said angrily.

Rose chuckled and kissed his forehead.

"Better go and help her. Besides I can talk to her and see if she knows anything about Freddy that we don't know."

The Doctor grinned at that.

"My little Watson," he said.

"Always," Rose replied.

The Doctor smiled and sighed when Rose kissed his forehead again.

"Just relax and don't go to sleep until I come back up here, yeah?"

The Doctor nodded. He accepted one more kiss from her on the lips before she straightened up and smiled at him. The Doctor let out another sigh and watched her go out the door, feeling more peaceful than he had in years.

Once outside the door, "Rose" closed it behind her. Then her mouth opened, revealing ugly yellow teeth and Freddy chuckled softly to himself.

"I'm disappointed in you, Doctor. You're making this too easy for me," he said softly as he walked away.

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The Doctor's eyes snapped open and he blinked in confusion for a moment before he realized he'd actually been dreaming about Rose. Groaning, he sat up on the side of the bed and waited till he was fully awake before he went back downstairs. He found Rose where he left her, sitting in the living room with Janette. The TV trays were gone and the two of them were chatting when he came inside the room. Rose glanced at him with a worried look on her face.

"You okay?" she said.

The Doctor, angry that what had happened between them had only been a dream, nodded silently. Janette rose from her chair.

"Rose and I have been talking and I think you were right about Freddy. I know…knew Randy and he was a good man. Rose told me that message had been meant for you. Though why he'd single you out is beyond me. No offense, but you don't seem like anyone special."

"Because I've made it my life's mission to fight evildoers like that, Janette, and I told Freddy as much. That was a challenge to me and his way of taunting me since he knows I can't fight him unless I enter the dream world. Which I just tried to do."

"What?" Rose said, jerking his arm. "Doctor, are you insane? What if you ended up dead because I wasn't up there to wake you up in time? Don't you ever do that again unless I'm there, do you hear me?"

The Doctor smiled and nodded.

"I know, I'm sorry, Rose. I was so angry about what happened to Randy that I wasn't thinking clearly. Trust me, it won't happen again."

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Janette asked.

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"Not sure but I do know that I wanna find out more about Freddy and these murders. Is there a library in town so I can look through some old newspapers?"

"Yeah, it's on the other side of town. I need to take some books back anyway so I'll drive you there."

The Doctor nodded and smiled when she patted his arm. She hurried out of the room to get her coat on and find her keys while the Doctor and Rose waited patiently for her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The trip to the library didn't take long since Springwood was a small town but as Rose sat with the Doctor in the back seat, she sensed that something had happened in the dream that he was reluctant to talk about. It frustrated her that the Doctor was often tight-lipped and wouldn't let her know what was really bothering him. She knew there had been a lot of turmoil in his life and she felt if he would only open up to her and confide in her about some of what went on in his past, she could help him heal and finally find peace.

But she knew him well enough to know that he would never say anything to her in front of Janette so she decided to wait until they were alone in the library.

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"Just take your time," Janette told them when they entered the library. "I'll return these books and look for some more and I'll be out in the car waiting afterwards."

"You don't have to, Rose and I can walk back," the Doctor said to her.

"Nah, it's alright, I have nothing else to do today and you're my guests. I'll sit in the car, relax and read my books so take your time."

The Doctor and Rose thanked her and they separated, going off to the right while she went to the left. The library was rectangular with several rooms that were divided into fiction, nonfiction, visual and audio media, a children's section, a tiny computer lab and a reading room with lots of brown leather chairs and tables inside it. She followed the Doctor up to the information desk. A young lady with long red hair and green eyes was behind it. She smiled when they walked up.

"Can I help you?" she asked them.

"Yes, we're looking for old newspapers, any back issues you might have."

"We have some down in the basement in storage along with copies on microfiche."

"Well, we're interested in Fred Kru…"

The woman held up her hand, silencing the Doctor.

"Yes, we get lots of people asking about him," she said.

She opened the top drawer and took out a CD-Rom and handed it to him.

"Because so many people ask, we went through and scanned everything we could find about Fred Krueger onto this disc. So if that's all you need, just use it and it should tell you everything you need to know."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

Rose left her driver's license with her after the woman gave them a guest username and password and requested they leave an ID so they didn't run off with the disc. Then the two of them headed to the computer lab. While they walked, Rose tugged on his sleeve.

"Hmm?" the Doctor said.

"Doctor, what did you see in your dream?" she asked him.

The Doctor tried to hide his discomfort and shook his head.

"I saw nothing, Rose. Freddy didn't come this time."

"Why don't I believe you then?"

The Doctor lowered his eyes as they entered the computer lab. There were two men and an elderly lady sitting at the computers. The Doctor and Rose walked to a computer at the back and sat down at a wooden desk. Rose watched the Doctor as he put the CD-Rom in and entered the username and password. While the computer was reading the disc, the Doctor glanced at Rose and sighed when he noticed she was still staring at him.

"Rose, it's nothing, honestly," he said softly.

"Doctor, you never tell me what's going on. I know Freddy showed you something."

"He didn't show me anything. Freddy wasn't there, I didn't have a dream. I told you before that I rarely dream when I sleep. I saw nothing, okay?"

Rose nodded. She knew he was lying but she also knew he'd never tell her the truth so she decided to let the matter drop and scoot closer to him as he studied the menu screen.

"I'm here for you, Doctor. Just letting you know that," she murmured to him.

The Doctor kept his eyes on the screen but grinned at that.

"I know you are, Rose. Thank you," he said, reaching for her hand.

He gave it a squeeze and Rose neared even closer when he clicked on newspaper articles. They clicked through them, the Doctor being able to read much more quickly than Rose could. He paused on one that was from the fifties and read it.

"Listen to this, Rose. Freddy's mum was a nun called Amanda Krueger. She worked in an insane asylum and accidentally got locked in a room over the weekend and was raped repeatedly by hundreds of inmates."

"Oh, my God," Rose said as the Doctor nodded.

"Yes, so apparently a violent killer was conceived in violence," he said.

They continued looking though the newspaper articles. The articles ranged from reports about the children Freddy kidnapped and killed while he was alive to the reports of strange deaths that others attributed to him.

"Apparently, he finally did away with all the offspring of the people who originally killed him," the Doctor said to Rose.

"And now he just kills for the hell of it," Rose replied.

"Once a killer, always a killer. He's immortal now, what else is he gonna do? Hullo…"

"What, what is it?"

"Apparently this woman called Nancy managed to pull Freddy into the real world and said once he was there he became human again with human vulnerabilities."

"How? How did she pull him into the real world?" Rose said.

"Apparently, if you grab him and wake up, he comes along with you. That's what she claims in this article," the Doctor said. "Course she also says no one really took her seriously. Freddy killed her boyfriend though; they found his mutilated body in his bed with blood all over the ceiling."

"So you're thinking if you go in…"

"And grab him and you wake me up if you see me struggling, then we'll pull him into our world…"

"And then what?"

His eyes grew dark.

"Then I kill him."

A chill ran down Rose's spine.

"Kill him?" she said.

He sighed.

"Have to, Rose, he's an aberration. He should have died that night inside that burning building but it was those…dream demons that saved him."

"Dream demons?" Rose said.

"He showed them to me. Weird wraith-like things. Said that they entered his body and made him immortal but apparently his immortality only exists inside the dream world, once he's pulled out, he's mortal again."

Rose felt another jolt of fear.

"So you're going to go back in on purpose and find him?" she said.

"Have to. I can't let him kill someone else. He already killed Randy because I went and found him the first time and was stupid enough to tell him I would stop him. He has to be stopped before others suffer and die."

"Including me?"

The Doctor noticed the fear in her eyes and laid his hand on top of hers.

"I won't let him hurt you, Rose. I'll protect you with every breath in my body."

Rose smiled and nodded as he patted her hand and they went back to searching through the archives.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time they were finished, Janette was waiting in the car, reading one of the books she checked out. She smiled when they got into the back seat.

"Find what you were looking for?" she asked him.

"Yes, I think we found a solution to how to stop Freddy. But it'll be dangerous so I need you to trust me."

Janette raised her eyebrow.

"Why, is there a reason why I shouldn't trust you?"

"No, it's not that. Freddy is targeting me and I'm afraid that Rose may be vulnerable and you as well since he's read my mind before. But in order to protect you, I need to take you somewhere and before I can do that, there's something you need to know about me."

"Okay," Janette said, confused. "What do I need to know about you?"

"If you don't mind, let's go back to the house first because I want to make sure you're not driving while I tell you and because it might take a bit of explanation on my part."

Janette nodded. She turned the key, started up the car and the Doctor and Rose shared a glance as she put the car in reverse and backed out of her parking spot.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Once they were back at the bed and breakfast, Janette went and put her books in her room while the Doctor and Rose put their coats and purse in their rooms and went back downstairs to the living room.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, telling her about us?" Rose said.

"Rose, Freddy is after me. I met him after I came here and he scanned my brain. I managed to stop him before he went deep into my subconscious but he scanned my surface memories and I'm sure he saw where I've been staying. Janette is in as much danger as you are and I don't want to see either of you get hurt or killed."

Rose nodded and they sat and waited on the sofa for Janette to join them. Five minutes later, she came in and sat down in her chair.

"Okay, Doctor, what is it you want to tell me?" she said.

The Doctor glanced at Rose, took a deep breath and began to explain about himself, Rose and the TARDIS. While he talked, Rose gauged Janette's reaction and she could tell from her face that Janette was thinking the Doctor was a lunatic. Halfway through explaining about time travel, Janette finally held up her hand.

"Wait, Doctor, stop right there. I know I just now started to believe that Freddy might exist but a time traveling alien? Come on, what do you take me for?"

"It's true," Rose said. "I know it sounds unbelievable but everything he's said has been the honest to God truth."

"Okay, I'm a bit of a show me type of gal. If you're an alien, and you sure as hell don't look like one, where's your proof?"

The Doctor glanced at Rose before he got up and reached deep into his right trouser pocket. He pulled out a stethoscope and walked over to her.

"I have two hearts," he said as he knelt down beside her and unbuttoned the top half of his shirt.

Janette glanced at Rose who nodded encouragingly. She put the ear buds in her ear and pressed the diaphragm against the Doctor's chest. Her eyes widened when she heard the double heartbeat. She looked at Rose.

"Is this a joke or a trick?" Janette said to her.

"No, it's neither. He is an alien."

"And you are too?"

"Nah, I'm human. I'm the one who's from England, not him."

Janette turned her eyes towards the Doctor as he stood up and buttoned his shirt.

"Will you hurt me? Because I remember hearing about that spaceship crashing in the water outside London…"

The Doctor shook his head.

"No, I won't hurt you. I did this because I want to protect you from Freddy. I told you, I made it my life's mission to fight evil and injustice and that's why I'm going to stop Freddy, no matter what it takes."

"So where is this place you wanna take me to? Your spaceship?"

"Yes."

He put a hand on her shoulder when he saw her fear.

"Forget all the films you've seen about aliens kidnapping humans and experimenting on them. Some do that but I'm not like that. Rose can attest to that."

"He's tellin' the truth, Janette. He won't hurt ya. He only wants to help."

"Will you trust me, Janette?" the Doctor asked.

Janette looked into his eyes and saw no malice there. She nodded.

"Yes, I'll trust you, Doctor," she said.

"Good. Come with us then and I'll show you my ship."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As expected, Janette was shocked when she stepped inside the TARDIS. The Doctor and Rose calmed Janette's fears and once she was calmed down they gave her a brief tour. The TARDIS made a bedroom for her next door to Rose's room and Janette was shocked when she saw how similar it was to her own bedroom. When she mentioned it to the Doctor, he smiled.

"My ship can read your mind and she saw what your bedroom looked like and constructed a similar one here so you would feel comfortable sleeping here tonight."

"What about you then? Rose and I will be here but aren't you sleeping here so you'll be protected?"

"Well, I…I'm not sure about that. If I'm going after Freddy and the TARDIS shields my mind from the outside world, there'd be no way to reach him. I need to risk it and go back to my room in the B and B."

"But if I'm in here sleeping, who's s'posed to wake ya up?" Rose said. "If the idea is to grab Freddy and pull him into the real world, should I be there watching over ya so I can wake ya up when you grab him?"

"Will you stay awake?"

"Well, yes, I'm not that tired," Rose said.

"Are you sure you two should be doing this?" Janette said. "What if you pull him into the real world and he gets away from ya?"

"I won't let that happen," the Doctor said. "I know what's at stake, trust me. Besides, Freddy's plan is to possess my body so he won't get very far from me. All that matters is that you and Rose are safe."

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"If you want, you could stay here, my TARDIS can make you feel right at home and we showed you were the kitchen, living room, lavatory and bedrooms are."

"Well…if you don't mind, I'd like to stay and explore a bit or is that not allowed?"

"No, go ahead, my TARDIS will prevent you from fiddling with the controls or going into areas you shouldn't be in but other than that, if you want to have a look, that's fine. In the meantime, Rose and I will go back and prepare ourselves for tonight."

After making sure she was comfortable and knew where the larder was in the kitchen. He and Rose walked outside, locked the door and leaving her car there and locked, hurried back to the bed and breakfast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After chatting for awhile in the living room and watching some TV, the Doctor finally decided it was time to try to find Freddy and they headed upstairs. Rose sat down in the chair next to the bed and watched him nervously while he unlaced his trainers. Finally, she laid a hand on his arm so he would look at her.

"Please be careful, I don't want you to regenerate again," she said to him.

He smiled tenderly.

"I don't wanna regenerate either, trust me," he said. "I promise, I'll be very careful."

They stared at one another for a moment in silence. The Doctor stared at Rose's soft pink lips and felt the urge to lean forward and kiss her. He caught himself leaning forward at the same time Rose was leaning in and quickly flopped down on the bed and got under the duvet. He could tell Rose was disappointed but she quickly hid it as did he. He gave her a smile though which caused her to smile back and she laid a hand on his shoulder as he got comfortable, shut his eyes and tried to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three hours later, Rose was still watching the Doctor while he slept peacefully, she stared at his face and noticed his eyes weren't moving under his eyelids but she could tell he was asleep so she figured he wasn't having any dreams. She was bored from watching him and she felt her eyelids beginning to close from time to time and she had to jerk herself away to keep them open. She checked her watch and noticed it was just after nine in the evening. Sighing, she shifted position in the chair and kept watching him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One hour after that, Rose was still watching him and there was no sign that he was having any dreams. Now very bored and very tired, Rose found herself getting up to use the bathroom, walk around, stretch, she even went and made some tea so she could have some caffeine but the longer the time stretched on, the more sleepy she became and finally when it was nearing eleven o'clock, Rose's eyelids closed for the final time and her head lowered to her chest as she went to sleep.

The moment Rose began to dream, the Doctor's eyes began to move underneath his eyelids.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The Doctor was confused. One minute he was in his bed asleep and now he was sitting in the backseat of a Honda Civic. He looked out the window to his right and noticed the car was parked beside a white two story house with a concrete porch that had been painted sky blue. The Doctor tried to open the door beside him and found it was locked. He tried the door on his left side, then leaned up and tried both doors in front of him. All of them were locked.

Frustrated, he sat back and tried to think of a way to get Rose's attention. He suddenly jerked his body around and yelled in the hope his physical body would do the same thing. He froze when two people, a man and a woman, stepped and gave him an odd look. The Doctor smiled and waved at them before the couple hurried on their way. The Doctor blew a frustrated puff of air out of his mouth while he tried to think of a way to wake up.

His head jerked back to the right when the front door of the house opened and he saw a man and teenage girl coming down the porch steps. At first, they looked familiar and then he realized who they were. It was Janette's husband and daughter. His hearts raced when he suddenly realized what might be happening.

"No, no, no, not her, please not her," he said to himself.

Janette's husband and daughter unlocked the car doors and got inside. The Doctor tried to escape the moment the doors were opened but found he was pinned to the seat by an unknown force. The husband got in the passenger side in front of him and the daughter got in the back seat to his left. Both were oblivious to the Doctor's presence, even though he was screaming at them at the top of his lungs. Then his blood ran cold when Janette suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the driver's seat. She looked around, confused, and then noticed the Doctor.

"Where am I?" she said.

Suddenly the engine roared to life without anyone turning a key. Janette turned her body back around to look at it and to the Doctor's horror, her seatbelt slid down over her chest and hips and locked before pulling itself tight. The Doctor looked at the husband and daughter but they were sitting quietly, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. The car moved out into the road under its own power and drove itself while both the Doctor and Janette tried to get free.

Then Janette screamed when the husband turned to look at the Doctor and transformed into Freddy.

"Evenin' all, nice night for a ride," he drawled.

"No! Freddy, please, I'll do anything, just let Janette go!" the Doctor said desperately.

"Did you really think putting her in your TARDIS would stop me?" Freddy sneered as the car sped up. "Tsk, tsk, foolish, naïve Doctor."

The Doctor tried to lunge at him but the lap belts suddenly locked around his hips and tightened while two arms resembling Freddy's came out of the seat on either side and pinned him to it.

"Freddy, I swear, if you harm Janette," he said with wild eyes.

Freddy chuckled at that and swiveled back around. He tipped his hat to Janette who was staring at him in fear.

"Howdy, I'm Freddy. I noticed from reading the Doctor's mind that you only recently began believin' in me. Well, here I am, in the flesh!"

"ROSE! WAKE ME UP!" the Doctor screamed at the car ceiling.

Freddy laughed at that and turned to look at him.

"Rose is asleep," he said as the Doctor stared at him in wide-eyed fear. "I held off visiting you for a long time until she finally dozed off. Took her awhile too, she really did try to stay awake but now she's in here with us and once I get through with Janette, she's next."

"I'm warning you, Freddy. If you hurt Janette or Rose…"

Both he and Janette let out a yell when the car swerved and barely missed hitting a garbage truck.

"I'm sorry, my bad, I never was a very good driver," Freddy said.

They screamed when the car bounced up onto the sidewalk. Freddy's eyes widened and he put his ungloved hand to his lips when they hit a poodle and heard it yelp in pain before it went flying over the car.

"Oh my, I seemed to have hit Fluffy. That's why I had to take my driver's test twice before I passed," he said.

The Doctor glanced over and noticed that the daughter had disappeared from the backseat, leaving just the three of them. The car went back on the road and the Doctor grunted when the back end went off the curb. He struggled to get free but the arms and lap belt held him securely as Freddy laughed and taunted him.

"This is only the beginning, Doctor. I'm through with the little cat and mouse games. Tonight, you'll be mine or Rose dies!" he said.

Freddy looked at Janette.

"Unfortunately, you're gonna die no matter what the Doctor does. Sucks to be you, I guess."

"No! Freddy! I'll do what you want, just let her go!" the Doctor screamed at him.

By now, the car was out of town and speeding through the night down a narrow road. Freddy laughed as the car kept swerving into the path of oncoming traffic before jerking back into the proper lane just before impact. The Doctor struggled with all of his might as he watched Janette screaming and crying and pleading for mercy.

Then the Doctor's blood turned to ice when the car went off the road and started heading through a field straight for a large tree. He shook his head in disbelief when he saw a large limb was headed straight for Janette's head as she screamed herself hoarse and tried to burst out of the seatbelt to safety.

"DOCTOR!" Janette screamed.

"JANETTE!" the Doctor screamed as the car made a beeline towards the limb.

The Doctor braced himself and noticed Freddy disappear moments before impact. The Doctor closed his eyes to shield them from the shattering glass and gritted his teeth as he heard Janette let out one long scream. Then he grunted when the car slammed into the tree and the sound of crunching metal and shattering glass echoed in his ears. Janette's scream was abruptly cut off and a second later, there was only the sound of tinkling glass. The Doctor forced himself to look and his hearts broke when he saw the limb had gone straight through Janette's head and she was now laying motionless, blood dripping from the hole in her head as her unseeing eyes started at the shattered remains of the windshield.

"Janette," the Doctor whispered. "I'm so sorry. I swear I'll stop Freddy and avenge your death and the deaths of all the other innocent people he's killed."

Then suddenly, he gasped as something jerked him awake. He bolted up in bed and jerked his head around. His hearts stopped when he saw Rose was slumped in her chair with her head on her chest. He swung his legs around and grabbed her arms.

"Rose," he said, shaking her roughly. "Rose, wake up! Wake up! Come on!"

His hearts were in his throat when he noticed Rose wasn't responding and seemed to be in a coma.

"No! You won't get her too," he said through clenched teeth.

He quickly put on his trainers, hopped up and gathered Rose into his arms. He raced down the stairs and out the door, not bothering to shut it behind him. He ran down the street, keeping an eye on Rose who was still catatonic. His legs pumped and his feet thudded against the pavement as he hurried towards his TARDIS as fast as he could go. He knew what was waiting for him inside. He also knew Rose wouldn't be protected inside his ship but he had to see Janette and confirm for himself that she truly was dead. It took fifteen minutes of running until he reached the TARDIS. He sat Rose down long enough to find his key and unlock the door and then he picked her up again and ran inside. As he ran towards Janette's room, he ordered the TARDIS to close the door and lock it, knowing that if he pulled Freddy out, he could trap him inside the ship. He ran back to the bedrooms and finally stopped at Janette's room. His hearts sank as he stumbled inside with Rose. Janette was lying on the bed, a huge gaping hole in her head from where the limb had gone through and a pool of blood was under her head and dripping down onto the floor beside her. The Doctor felt bile rise to his throat and forced himself to turn away and take Rose into her room. Once he was inside her room, he pulled back her duvet and made her comfortable. He tried one more time to shake her awake but she was still unresponsive. Cursing Freddy, he vowed to kill him as he ran his hand down her right cheek. Then he hesitated a moment and leaned over, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead the way she had done in his dream.

"I will save you, Rose," he said softly as he stroked her cheek. "Don't worry; I'm coming to get you, even if it means I lose another life in order to save you."

He gazed at her a moment more before he lay down on the floor beside her, stretched out his body and closed his eyes. He took deep, steady breaths and in under ten minutes the Doctor was asleep and dreaming again.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

By the time the Doctor found himself back on Elm Street, he was enraged to the point of losing all control. He stomped along the pavement, his eyes fixed on the dilapidated house that Freddy lived in. While he walked, he heard the child singing the perverted nursery rhyme in the distance and snorted.

"One…two…I'm coming for you," he said through gritted teeth. "Three…four…you won't be alive anymore…five…six…"

"Doctor?"

He stopped short when he heard Rose's voice coming from everywhere around him followed by Freddy's taunting laugh. His rage increased along with his pace and he hurried over to the abandoned house wanting nothing more than to grab Freddy, wake up and shove a tree through his brain. He found the house, took the porch steps two at a time and pounded on the red door.

"OPEN UP, FREDDY! YOU WANT ME, HERE I AM! YOU'RE RIGHT, GAMETIME IS OVER! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END!"

The door flew open and the Doctor jerked back just in case Freddy was there waiting to put his finger knives through his eyes. He didn't see him and snorted.

"Fine," he said, gnashing his teeth. "You want me to come into your little playhouse in the basement, I'll certainly oblige you."

He barely noticed the door slamming shut behind him and locking as he made a beeline for the cellar door. His rage kicked up another notch when he heard Rose's terrified cries for help echoing through the abandoned house. He found the door, raised his foot and kicked it in. A blast of hot air from the furnace below hit his face as he stepped out onto the grating. He stomped down the metal stairs, his blood boiling.

"KRUEGER! SHOW YOURSELF!" he screamed as he went down.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed somewhere in the distance.

"HANG ON, ROSE, I'M COMING!" the Doctor screamed back as his feet hit the cement floor.

He made his way through the chains, looking all around for Rose or Freddy. He heard the screams of other people besides Rose, men, women and children as his eyes darted all around for his adversary. He gritted his teeth and balled his fists up when he heard the screeching sound followed by Freddy's mocking laugh.

"Temper, temper, Doctor. Anger gives you high blood pressure," Freddy said somewhere in the distance.

"I'm through with you, Krueger. Normally I hate killing anybody but for you, I'll gladly make an exception."

"Yes, you've made a lot of exceptions, haven't you, Doctor?" Freddy's voice echoed back to him. "You call me a killer but you've done a fair amount of killing yourself."

"Don't you dare compare me to you, I'm nothing like you, you sadistic bastard!"

"No, I'm just a simple child killer while you are the destroyer of worlds, we're nothing alike at all," Freddy said airly.

The Doctor looked all around but still couldn't see him. His rage increased even more and he longed to punch off what he knew was a smirk on Freddy's face. As he went through the chains into a darker cooler section of the basement, he sat a drop-off and another flight of metal stairs. He walked up to them and froze. Below him was Rose. She was completely naked. Her wrists and ankles had manacles around them and they were attached to chains coming from the ceiling. She was hanging fifteen feet over a small, narrow rectangular pit that was ablaze. Rose caught his eye and his hearts stopped when he saw the fear on her face. He gnashed his teeth when Freddy stepped out of the darkness beside her and leered at him.

"Here she is, Doctor, your prized possession," he said to him.

The Doctor's eyes blazed when he saw Freddy run his ungloved hand down her naked body and touch her crotch.

"I bet you've wanted this for a long time," he said as his index finger tapped her slit. "I bet you've hungered for it, haven't ya?"

"Let her go!" the Doctor said, slowly going down the metal stairs towards him.

Freddy ignored him and put his hand on Rose's butt.

"Yeah, she's a nice piece of ass, isn't she?" he said as the Doctor reached the last step and stepped down onto the concrete floor. "Bet you've wanted to fuck her for a long time, eh?"

His eyes darted up to Rose's face and noticed her fear had been momentarily replaced by curiosity as she listened to Freddy. The fear came back quickly when Freddy ducked underneath her legs and held his finger knives up to her vagina. He wiggled them dangerously close to her body while he smirked at the Doctor who was trembling with barely contained rage.

"Say it, Doctor! Do you love her?" Freddy sneered.

The Doctor glanced at Rose and noticed she was once again looking straight at him.

"Say it, Doctor, or Rose here gets a finger fuck with a blade!" he said as he lowered all his knives except the one on his index finger.

"Yes," the Doctor said softly.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, I love her," the Doctor said softly.

"What? Can't hear ya! Either you scream it out loud, Doctor, or Rose here gets to scream."

"YES, I LOVE ROSE!" the Doctor bellowed.

"Doctor," Rose whispered as Freddy chuckled at that.

"That's better, Time Lord. Can't say I blame ya. She is a looker. Not to mention her pussy looks nice and wet. I bet you'd give anything to fuck her right now, wouldn't ya?"

The Doctor said nothing and glared at him with hate as Freddy stepped away from Rose and faced him.

"Now, you probably noticed I have Rose in a bit of an uncomfortable position. I always did have a flair for the dramatic. As you probably guessed after watching what happened to your friend, Janette. Oh yeah, speaking of…here she is…"

The Doctor watched in horror as Freddy tore open his sweater and he saw Janette's head right over his heart. The Doctor's throat went dry when he saw the anguish on her tiny face.

"Now, how's about you and Rose joining her because I'm sure she's lonely now," Freddy said. "After all, I wasn't able to take her husband and daughter since they died while they were awake so she needs some friends. So what do you say, you and your lover wanna keep her company?"

He sneered and took two quick steps forward and laughed when the Doctor involuntarily recoiled from him.

"You sissy! What's wrong, am I being unnatural again?" Freddy said.

"Let Rose go and let those souls go free and I'll do whatever you want," the Doctor said.

Aw, does that mean you'll ditch Sweetie Pie and be my main squeeze?" Freddy said.

He chuckled.

"Course I've already had a go at ya anyway."

He smiled at the confused expression on the Doctor's face and then before the Doctor's horrified eyes, he morphed into Rose.

"Oh Doctor," he said using Rose's voice, "I love you so much. Let me stay with you forever. You and I are meant to be."

The Doctor balled up his fists and gritted his teeth when Freddy morphed back and howled with laughter. Freddy looked at Rose who was watching in silent anguish.

"See, Rose, how easily he can be manipulated and apparently he thinks he's so high and might compared to humans. You're just as weak as anyone else, Doctor. I found the right button for you and I pushed it and you fell for my disguise hook, line and sinker. And now because of your weakness, here you are, trapped while your little honey is about to become charbroiled and you don't have the slightest idea how to stop me. So kneel before me, Doctor, or watch as Rose gets burned alive."

"No, Doctor!"

The Doctor glanced at Rose and sighed as he dropped to his knees before Freddy. Freddy laughed and came close to him. The Doctor stayed still as he ran the side of his index finger knife down his cheek.

"You're pathetic, Doctor. Didn't even put up a fight and all because you're worried about your little sweetheart. I loved my wife too until the nosy bitch went snooping in my basement and then I had to teach her a lesson about getting in other people's private property."

"And what about the kids you killed, did they need to be taught a lesson as well?"

"No, I just killed them because I liked it," Freddy said, shrugging.

He chuckled when he saw the enraged look on the Doctor's face.

"Oh, don't pretend your shit don't stink, Doctor. I already told you I know you've killed a hell of a lot more people than I have."

"Yes but unlike you, I was forced to do it and I regretted every death. I doubt you regretted killing any of those children or the children of the people who killed you or Janette."

"I was made this way, Doctor. Society made me into a killer."

"Oh, don't give me that!" the Doctor said. "There are plenty of people who are born from rapes and grow up abused and neglected and they don't turn into sadistic child killers."

"True, it takes a special talent to be able to do this job."

The Doctor rolled his eyes when Freddy laughed at his own quip.

"Now as for you, I got a peek at more of your memories when you thought I was Rose since that time you didn't realize you were asleep and had your guard down. So many things you've seen, Doctor. So many places and points of time you've been too, made me even more hungry for you and your body. And your TARDIS…with your body and your knowledge, I can use your TARDIS and go anyplace in the universe I wish. I can kill anyone I want and no one will be able to stop me because I can just get into the TARDIS and go someplace else in time and space. And with all the strength and cunning and power you possess I'll be unstoppable."

"I'll give you my body, it and more if you let Rose go," the Doctor said.

Freddy let out a snort of contempt.

"You'd actually let me have you in exchange for her," he said, pointing at Rose with his finger knife.

"Yes, because we've already established that I love her and unlike you, I won't stop loving her the moment she does something to displease me like snoop around…because God knows she's done enough of that while traveling with me," he added under his breath. "All you need to do is free her and send her back and I'll remain here and you can merge with me."

"NO, DOCTOR, DON'T!"

The Doctor looked at her and saw the anguished look on her face. He smiled at her.

"I have to, Rose. I have to do this in order to save you."

The Doctor looked up at the ceiling when he heard a violin melody playing.

"Aw, how sweet," Freddy said as the melody played. "I almost feel like I'm watching a chick flick."

The violin music stopped.

"Sorry but I got sentimental just then," Freddy said.

"Well, are you going to accept my offer?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the wisecracks.

Freddy eyed him suspiciously.

"I think I'll merge with you first and then let Rose go," he said. "I don't trust you, Doctor. I can tell you have something up your sleeve. So, on your feet."

"What? Don't you want me groveling and begging for mercy before you enter me?"

He gasped when the chains suddenly dropped Rose two feet towards the fire and the Doctor quickly jumped up.

"That's better," Freddy said. "Now, back against the wall over there and no tricks or the chains drop Rose all the way into the fire."

The Doctor glared at him before he turned and began heading for the wall under the steps. He took two steps and then suddenly without warning, he spun around and lunged at Freddy catching him off guard.

"TARDIS, NOW! WAKE ME AND ROSE UP AND GET US OUT OF HERE!"

He smirked at Freddy when he grabbed his wrists, held them over his head and pinned him to the floor with his body.

"Come on, Freddy, time to enter the real world!" the Doctor said as the TARDIS used her link with their minds to wake up him and Rose.

Freddy let out an angry yell just before the three of them disappeared and the Doctor and Rose woke up.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The Doctor gasped as he woke up. Immediately, he jumped to his feet and noticed that Rose was awake and looking at something over in the corner. He turned and saw someone lying in a heap on the floor. His eyes darkened when he noticed the dirty red and green sweater, brown trousers and brown fedora.

"Krueger," the Doctor snarled as he advanced towards him.

He sensed Rose starting to get up and follow him.

"No, stay back, I'll handle this," he said, looking back and holding out his hand to stop her.

Rose nodded and sat on the side of the bed, watching with a worried look on her face while the Doctor walked over to Freddy who appeared to be motionless. The Doctor kicked his side.

"Get up and face me," the Doctor growled.

Freddy jerked his head up and the Doctor was amazed when he saw that Freddy's face was no longer burned. Freddy sat up and the hat fell off, revealing short curly blonde hair. He glanced down at his ungloved hand and noticed the flesh was also pink and unblemished.

"You became normal again," the Doctor said to him.

"Yes," Freddy said in a soft voice. "It's because I'm real again. If I had those burns out here, I would never survive."

"Get up," the Doctor said coldly. "Rose, leave the room now!"

"Doctor…wait…"

"Do as I say," the Doctor barked without turning to look at her.

"You can't do this," Freddy said meekly as he got to his feet. "You can't kill me."

"I can and I will," the Doctor said coldly. "I don't care if you've gone back to normal out here, you're still a killer and I'm not gonna let you go free to terrorize the real world again."

"Doctor, please, listen to me. The dream demons are gone. They left me when you pulled me out here."

"Oh please, Krueger, what do you take me for?" the Doctor said. "I know you can change your body, I saw you change into Rose. This is just another trick to try to make me feel sorry for you and let my guard down and then you'll strike!"

Freddy gnashed his teeth and let out a roar as he lifted his finger knives. In that instant, he became his normal self again and he charged at the Doctor. The Doctor tried to sidestep him and grunted when Freddy grazed his arm with the finger knives on the way past. To his horror, the Doctor noticed that Rose had gotten up from the bed but wasn't out of the room and Freddy was now making a beeline for her while she ran out.

"ROSE, RUN!" The Doctor said. "TARDIS, HELP ROSE AND STOP FREDDY!"

At that instant, an invisible wall was thrown up between Freddy and Rose. Freddy grunted when he smacked into it and he let out an enraged yell when he saw a hole open in the wall on the other side of the barrier and Rose run through it to safety. He spun around and saw the Doctor standing behind him with a smirk on his face.

"You're inside my TARDIS, Krueger, now you're in my world and my ship responds to my commands just like your dream world responds to you," he said smugly.

"You think you've won, Doctor, but I'll be back. Even if you kill me, the dream demons will resurrect my body and I'll keep on killing."

"Then I'll have to put you somewhere where you'll never harm anyone ever again," the Doctor said.

"Oh yeah," Freddy sneered, "where?"

"The void."

"The what?" Freddy said.

"Come on, Krueger, look into my mind and find out what the void is. Or…you can't do that now that you're real, can you? Out here, you're nothing but a normal human."

The Doctor took a step towards him.

"I'm going to kill you in order to release all these souls inside you and then I'll find a hole in the fabric of time and space and put your body inside the void. Once I seal it up, it won't matter if these dream demons bring you back to life because you'll be trapped forever between universes and there'll be nothing there for you to kill. You never shoulda messed with me, Krueger. You shoulda run and hid the moment you figured out I'm not an average human. You think you're humanity's worst nightmare? Well, I'm yours. Because when I get through with you, you'll wish you'd never been born."

Freddy roared and lunged at him and smacked into another invisible barrier the TARDIS threw up. The Doctor watched, smirking, as Freddy banged on it and cursed at the top of his lungs, demanding to be set free. The Doctor watched him dispassionately as Freddy continued to bang on the barrier and scream curses at him. Then Freddy heard a hissing sound over his head and looked up as white smoke began to seep into the tiny space between the barriers.

"What's that?" Freddy said to the Doctor.

"Cyanide gas. I'm going to kill you, Freddy, but not in the way you've killed others. You're simply going to be poisoned."

"You think you've defeated me," Freddy snarled at him. "I'll find a way back from this "void" and then I'm coming for you and nothing you love will be safe and that includes Rose!"

The Doctor watched, uncaring, as Freddy began to cough and choke on the gas.

"Goodbye, Krueger, your reign of terror is at an end," the Doctor said, putting his hands in his pockets.

He watched silently while Freddy fell to his knees, gagging as the poison smoke filled his lungs. He kept on watching while Freddy fell over, gasping for air and clawing at the barrier with his knives. Then ten minutes after the gassing began, he heard Freddy breathe his last and his eyes glazed over as he stared up at the ceiling. The Doctor smiled when at the moment of his death a large white mist came out of his chest and he could see the happy faces of the souls he had captured including Janette's rise up to the ceiling and vanish from sight.

"Rest in peace, Janette and everyone else, you're free now," he said softly as he stared at the spot where the souls escaped.

He looked back down at Freddy's body with disdain.

"TARDIS, keep the barrier around him, just in case," he said to his ship. "And find a gap somewhere where I can jettison him into the void."

The TARDIS grunted an affirmative and the Doctor took one last look at Freddy before turning and heading back to the console room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose tentatively walked into the console room and found the Doctor standing at his monitor watching the screen. She noticed his jacket was off and she could see a white bandage through the rips Freddy had made in his shirt. She neared closer to him and he glanced her way and smiled warmly when she got within ten feet of him.

"Hello there," he said.

"Freddy, is he…"

The Doctor's eyes darkened.

"He's been taken care of," he said, turning his eyes back to the screen. "He's dead and I put the body somewhere where he won't be able to hurt anyone if he's somehow revived."

Rose wanted to ask where but she had a feeling the Doctor wouldn't tell her so she instead came closer to him. The Doctor glanced her way for a second and then began to circle the console flipping switches and pressing buttons.

"So, where to next?" he said cheerfully. "Wanna try 2, 2, 2 now?"

"Doctor, what about Janette?"

"I'm taking her back to her house. We'll lay her in her bed and I'll ring the police and make an anonymous call to let them know she's there. By the time they get there, we'll be gone."

"You don't wanna stay…for her funeral?" Rose asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

"Nah, I'd rather not. I'd rather just move on and sally forth to the next adventure," he said. "She'll be fine. I'm sure she has family who'll give her a proper burial."

He grabbed the handle of his vortex loop and began to pump it while he looked at Rose. He noticed how unhappy she looked.

"Rose, I tried to save her but in the dream world, there was nothing I could do," he said.

"I know. I know you tried. There's something else though."

"Oh? What?"

"What you said. What Freddy made you say when I was chained up."

The Doctor stopped pumping and lowered his eyes to the console. Rose bit her lip and came around towards him.

"Doctor…"

"Rose, listen…"

"No, I wanna know if you meant that or did you say it just because you were trying to save me?"

"Rose, please, can't we just pretend it never happened?"

"Then you don't love me?" Rose said sadly.

The Doctor kept silent while he stared down at the bicycle pump handle. Rose came up beside him, gently grabbed his chin and turned his head so he would look at her.

"I love you, Doctor. I don't know what Freddy said to you when he was impersonating me but what he did say, I completely agreed with."

"Rose…"

"Doctor, I know it makes you uncomfortable to hear me say that I love you so I won't keep saying it but I just want you to know that I do and I'm so glad you chose me to travel with you and I'll be with you for as long as you want me here."

The Doctor smiled tenderly and wrapped his arm around her. He gazed at her lovingly as Rose laid her head against his side and closed her eyes. She smiled when she felt the Doctor's lips gently press against her scalp and then deciding not to press her luck, she stepped back and looked into his eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest when she noticed his eyes were filled with love for her and he gave her shoulder a squeeze before he headed back to his monitor.

"So…" he said, glancing at her. "We take Janette home then so she can have a decent burial and the TARDIS can sort out her room?"

Rose nodded.

"Yeah. And hopefully she's with her husband and daughter somewhere and they're all happy."

The Doctor smiled at that and nodded. Rose neared close to him and watched quietly while he punched a few more buttons and then she felt the TARDIS turn and smiled when the Doctor wrapped his arm around her and held her close while they waited for the timeship to land.

THE END.


End file.
